Summary
Learning technologies are nowadays present in the educational system at almost all levels. They are used in many different ways, based on different teaching paradigms. Because of its specific organisation, called dual system, and its specific needs, the swiss vocational education model imposes special requirements to the use of these technologies. Our Leading House does not expand traditional e-learning research, but develop a specific approach more dedicated to the specific situation of an educational program run jointly by several partners. The projects conducted or promoted by the Leading House lie on the general hypothesis that the more appropriate uses of learning technologies in such a distributed training system are those who, by fostering collaboration and coordination among its various actors, will facilitate the constitution of a coordinated and mutually enriched vocational education program distributed over multiple locations.
Three research projects will be conducted by the members of the Leading House. The first one explores how mobile and flexible technologies could foster the development of apprentices’ autonomy by helping them to better appreciate their needs for assistance. The second project will investigate the use of learning technologies to help apprentices take advantage of a web-based journal to write down personal experiences made while learning in different settings and share them with others under different conditions. Finally, the third project will explore the pedagogical use of ICT tools especially designed to be used in “wild” (that is with dirty hands, away from a desk) or “blind” conditions (that is with objects that are not easy to track down). Each of these projects will first be realized in one specific context (i.e. in one particular branch of vocational education) and finally transferred to the other two contexts examined by the Leading House, namely, mechanic, health and logistics professions.
The Leading House will also encourage and finance further research projects exploring how other partners in education, such as parents for instance, can be involved in such a network aimed at improving the coherence between all the skills acquired in various learning situations and contexts. The Leading House will also set up and conduct a doctoral program on the use of ICT in vocational education.
